Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion And The 1866 Battle That Made Canada

by Peter Vronsky

  In this groundbreaking narrative , historian, investigative journalist and filmmaker Peter Vronsky uncovers the hidden history of the Battle of Ridgeway and explores its significance to Canada’s nation-building myths and traditions. On June 1, 1866, more than 1,000 Fenian insurgents invaded Canada across the Niagara River from Buffalo, N.Y. The Fenians were mostly battle-hardened Civil War veterans; the Canadian troops sent to fight them came from a generation that had not seen combat at home for more than 30 years. Led by inexperienced upper-class officers, the volunteer soldiers were mostly young, some as young as 15 years old. They were farm boys, shopkeepers, apprentices, schoolteachers, store clerks and two rifle companies of University of Toronto students hastily called out from their final exams. Many had not fired live rounds from their rifles even once. When they fought the Fenians near the village of Ridgeway the next day, a single rifle company of 28 students took the brunt of a counter-attack by 800 insurgents and suffered the most killed and wounded. The events of June 2, 1866, were covered up by the Macdonald government. The story was falsified so thoroughly that most Canadians today have not heard of the first modern battle in which Canadians died.

Genres: History

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

PETER VRONSKY is an author, filmmaker, and forensic-investigative historian. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in the history of espionage in international relations and criminal justice history.

Peter Vronsky is the author of a series of books on the history serial homicide: Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters (2004); Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters (2007); Sons of Cain: A History of Serial Killers From the Stone Age to the Present (2018)- a New York Times Editors' Choice; and most recently, American Serial Killers: The Epidemic Years 1950-2000 (2021).

He is also the author of Ridgeway: The American-Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle that Made Canada, the definitive history of Canada's first modern battle and the subject of his 2010 doctoral dissertation at U of T.

He lives in Toronto and Venice, Italy.

Reviews

[Ruslan Farben · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating history of how Irish American insurgents, the Fenians, mostly former veterans of the just ended Civil War, invaded Canada in 1866. As everybody is commemorating the War of 1812 currently, many forget that the “last invasion” of Canada from U.S. territory took place shortly after the Civil War in June 1866 as thousands of insurgents crossed over from Vermont and New York.

While this book focuses more on the Canadian aspect of the invasion and the impact it had on the birth of modern Canada and its military, it provides also much detail on the Fenian and U.S. sides as well. There is virtually no new literature out there on the Fenian Raids into Canada and this book fills in the gap brilliantly.

Vronsky is a historian and the author of two histories of serial homicide and although this book is a dramatic departure from the themes of his previous two books, it is a compelling well written history on insurgent warfare on the U.S.-Canadian border in the 1860s. It is based on his recent Ph.d. dissertation on the subject of espionage in international relations, but it reads like a popular history: a page-turner!

[Kyle Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dog is an American, and he was extremely disappointed to hear about the behaviour of his Irish-American brethren during the Fenian Raids of 1866. Trying to take Canada hostage as some sort of bargaining chip! The cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity and the gumption.

[Bill McKinlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vronsky’s history of the June 2,1866 invasion of Canada brings alive a forgotten piece of Canadian history. It is well written and the references are meticulously noted. Using primary sources Vronsky tells a gripping tale of the day in June when the Irish Republican Army or Fenians, as they were known in the day, made up of seasoned Civil war vets invaded Canada in hopes of holding the country ransom in the fight for a free Ireland.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful account of the Fenian Raids of 1866 and the events that lead and followed it. Some of the discussion on bullets and guns gets a little long, but this account almost plays the event by the minutes and brings light to an evening of Canadian history that has long been forgotten. It also acts as a rallying cry to have the men and women who fought and were involved in the event to be recognized by our Remembrance Day (ironically I learned was previously based on the dates of the 1866 raid until 1931 when it was changed to November 11 and all previous veterans were erased from the honouring).

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book. Good background information and afterword info. Will have to check out the battlefield site as I live in the Niagara peninsula.